The Absolute Best Liquid Lipsticks

If you’re looking for a lip product that can outlast burgers, pizza, and all manner of life’s pleasures and rigors (culinary or otherwise), liquid lipstick is it. More specifically: You need one of the best liquid lipsticks listed below. They all boast Teflon-tough staying power, but defy liquid lipstick’s terrible rap for drying out your lips, since most contain healthy doses of hydrating ingredients, like avocado oil, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E. Beyond that, these lipsticks come in a wide range of shades and finishes, from metallic teal to matte Burgundy to velvety bright coral. And if you don’t like the “wetness” of a liquid lipstick, there’s even a mousse, a cream, and a gloss here waiting for you.

All these lipsticks apply smoothly, even on dry-ish lips (that’s why they’re the best!), but you’ll still get the best results if you do some prep work first. A gentle lip scrub will help buff away dead skin on the surface of your lips to create a smooth, even surface. Follow that up with a lip balm or cream, wait until it’s fully absorbed, then apply your liquid lipstick of choice. I like to use the applicator's pointed tip to line my lips first, then use the flat side to fill them in.

Without further ado, scroll on to shop eight of the best liquid lipsticks you can get on Amazon.

1. The Overall Best Liquid Lipstick

Quite possibly the best drugstore liquid lipstick of all time, Maybelline's Super Stay Matte Ink has garnered a small army of loyalists (as evidenced by its 25,000+ five-star Amazon ratings) for its unparalleled staying power, though not in sacrifice of comfort: The formula paints on a smooth, opaque swath of color that quickly seals onto your lips, but feels like next-to-nothing. And once it’s on, it’s on for good — as in, you’ll need a micellar water or oil cleanser to slough it off, many hours and meals later. Take your pick from 45 diverse shades, or join the ranks of devoted customers who’ve collected them all.

• Available shades: 45

2. Runner Up

This stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick has long been a cult favorite among beauty editors and prestige beauty customers. But when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dubbed this her go-to lipstick back in 2018 (in the shade Beso, linked to here), it officially ascended to All-Time Classic status. The formula is on the wet side, with vitamin E and avocado oil to enhance its hydrating feel, so it takes some practice and/or blind confidence to apply it precisely. But it’ll dry down quickly to a matte, lightweight finish, and it won’t fade, crack, or travel throughout the day.

• Available shades: 16

3. Author's Pick

If I could only wear one lipstick for the rest of my life, it’d be Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in American Doll (pictured): A true blue-toned red with a plush, powdery, matte finish. Its intense pigmentation makes your lips look naturally fuller, and the weightless formula is totally non-drying. But all the other 26 available shades are equally gorgeous, from Insomniac, a muted teal, to their eminently wearable nudes and pinks.

• Available shades: 27

4. Best Natural Liquid Lipstick

If you know about beauty, you know to take the terms "natural" and "clean" with a grain of salt — but like all Honest Beauty products, this liquid lipstick is vegan, cruelty-free, and made without additives, like synthetic fragrance and silicones, which some people prefer to avoid. Instead, you’ll find deeply nourishing ingredients like castor seed oil, avocado oil, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E, which makes this an excellent pick for people with dry lips. But it has all the intense longevity you’d expect of a high-performing, long-lasting liquid lipstick — one Amazon reviewer reported that it held on through two meals without getting patchy or cracking.

• Available shades: 8

5. Best Black-Owned Brand

Founder Melissa Clark started The Lip Bar from her own kitchen in 2012, and it’s since then, it's become a standby for people seeking diverse, inclusive, and experimental makeup (and it’s now available on Amazon!). Lipsticks are the brand’s marquee offering, of course, but their vegan and cruelty-free matte liquid lipstick has become a particular fan favorite. Its hydrating formula feels comfortable on your lips, and it’s completely transfer-proof. Switch up your usual makeup routine and try one of the fun, purple shades, like Drama Queen (pictured), or the even bolder Crown Me.

• Available shades: 2

6. Best Mousse

Selling point number one for this Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Mousse: It has the most divine, whipped texture, like chocolate mousse made cosmetic (though it smells like a mango-vanilla smoothie). Number two: The formula contains superfine mattifying powders, which gives it a velvety finish and extreme longevity — one Amazon reviewer reported that it lasted a full 10 hours, during which time they ate a burrito, a chicken chalupa, and lasagna. Number three: One tube costs about $6 on Amazon, so this is very much a “collect them all” situation. No wonder this is considered one of the best matte liquid lipsticks out there.

• Available shades: 14

7. Best Cream

This NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream also boasts an unusual texture, this time in the form of a plush cream. Accordingly, it feels like a dream on dry lips. The payoff is surprisingly buildable, so you can go relatively sheer or more concentrated with it — but it dries down to a completely matte finish, so the effect is decidedly “liquid lipstick-y.” And with almost 13,000 five-star ratings on Amazon, this is another all-time favorite among shoppers.

• Available shades: 33

8. Best Gloss

This Rimmel lip color is a liquid lipstick with a glossy finish — a rare find in the beauty world. The dual-ended applicator features a liquid lipstick on one end and a clear, non-sticky gloss on the other, so you could forgo the gloss if you wanted to. The gloss helps seal in the color, though, which keeps it from smearing and extends its wear time up to the promised 16 hours.

• Available shades: 12